1912 Eighth Grade Examination for Bullitt County Schools - Answers

The museum staff has put together the following answer sheet for the 1912 examination displayed on another page. As we noted on that page, the test focused on some things that were more relevant at that time than now, and it should not be used to compare student knowledge then and now.

Spelling, Reading, and Writing

Note that the spelling list contains a word that was incorrectly typeset: "eneeavor" should be "endeavor." We do not know what was required for reading and writing.

The two long walls are 20' by 9' or 180 square feet each. The other two walls are 16' by 9' or 144 square feet each. The door space to be deducted is 8' by 4.5' or 36 square feet. The two window spaces to be deducted are 5' by 3.5' or 17.5 square feet each. Thus we have (180 × 2) + (144 × 2) - 36 - (17.5 × 2) which reduces to 360 + 288 - 36 - 35 or 648 - 71 = 577 square feet. Since a square yard = 9 square feet, we divide 577 by 9 and get 64.1 square yards. At 12.5 cents per square yard, the cost will be $8.01, rounded to the nearest cent.

By the way, "kalsomining" is whitewash, a calcium-based cheaper paint. A quote: "Too rich for whitewash, too poor for paint".

Question #4: A man bought a farm for $2400 and sold it for $2700. What percent did he gain?
$2700 - $2400 = $300. Divide the increase by the original amount, or 300 ÷ 2400 = .125 or 12.5%

Question #5: A man sold a watch for $180 and lost 16⅔%. What was the cost of the watch?
Assuming that "a/c" means percent, the solution is to divide the sale price of $180 by .833 [100% - 16.67% = 83.3% or .833]. Thus 180 ÷ .833 = 216.086 or $216.09 rounded to the nearest cent.

Alternately, if the student recognized that 16⅔% is ⅙ then $180 is ⅚ of the original price. Thus the original price was $180 divided by ⅚, which is exactly $216.00. No rounding is necessary.

Question #6: Find the amount of $50.30 for 3 yrs., 3 mo. and 3 days, at 8 percent.
Assuming that the question is asking for a total of the principal plus interest earned over the stated time period, the answer will be $63.41 using principal × rate × time.) with 3 years, 3 months, 3 days = 3.258 years. $50.30 × .08 × 3.258 = $13.11 interest.

Question #7: A school enrolled 120 pupils and the number of boys was two thirds of the number of girls. How many of each sex were enrolled?
Since the number of boys equals ⅔ of the number of girls, or B = ⅔G [or .67G], we can add the .67G to G and write the equation as 1.67G = 120. Divide both sides of the equation by 1.67 and the equation becomes G = 120 ÷ 1.67 which equals 71.856 which rounds to the whole number of 72. Since there are 72 girls, 120 - 72 = 48 boys.

Alternately, using just fractions, B = ⅔G and B + G = 120, we get (5/3)G = 120. Staying in fractions, we can multiple both sides of the equation by 3, giving 5G = 360, or G = 72, from which we can determine that B = 48. Rounding to whole numbers thus becomes unnecessary.

Question #8: How long a rope is required to reach from the top of a building 40 ft. high, to the ground 30 ft. from the base of the building?
The answer is 50 feet. Use the Pythagorean theorem (a2 + b2 = c2). Also, we have been reminded by Craig Siefkas of the rule for right triangles called the 3-4-5 rule. He said, "If you have a right triangle with one side being 3 units long, one side 4 units long, then the third and longest side will be 5 units long. In this case the unit is 10 feet. The reason this is such an important rule to many is that when you are building a barn, shed, or house, you must 'square' the building. Typically a farmer or carpenter's longest tape will be 50 feet long, so you run one wall out 30 feet, the second wall out 40 feet, and the building will be square when the distance between them is 50 feet. Of course, if you wish you can use 'units' of 5 feet, or 15 feet × 20 feet × 25 feet; or units of 3 feet giving you 9 feet × 12 feet × 15 feet; or any other length 'unit' you desire. Many a building has been squared up using this rule, with no knowledge of the Pythagorean Theorem." Thanks Craig.

Question #9: How many steps 2 ft. 4 in. each will a man take in walking 2¼ miles?
Assuming the question is saying 2¼ miles, 5280 feet (in a mile) times 2¼ miles = 11,880 feet. Divide that by the size of step (2⅓ feet) = 5,092 steps.

Question #10: At $1.62½ a cord, what will be the cost of a pile of wood 24 ft. long, 4 ft. wide and 6 ft. 3 in. high?
$7.62. A simple volume problem. One cord at 4 × 4 × 8 feet = 128 cubic feet. 24 × 4 × 6¼ = 600 cubic feet. Divide cord volume into measured volume; times $1.62½. (Interesting to note that a cord of wood was $1.62½ in 1912. What does it sell for today?)

Grammar

Question #1: How many parts of speech are there? Define each.
Traditionally (and almost certainly in 1912) there were eight grammatical parts of speech identified this way (taken from Wikipedia)

Adverb: any qualifier of an adjective, verb, clause, sentence, or other adverb

Preposition: any establisher of relation and syntactic context

Conjunction: any syntactic connector

Interjection: any emotional greeting (or "exclamation")

Other more recent sources separate the articles (a, an, the) as a part of speech, and drop the interjection. For example see the Purdue site.

"Most grammarians recognize eight parts of speech in classifying all the words in the language which are used in connected discourse. Some grammarians exclude the interjection from the list of parts of speech; others separate the articles (the, a, an) from the adjective division; and others classify the expletive as a full part of speech. ... School grammars generally recognize the traditional eight parts of speech." Taken from page 16 of Descriptive English Grammar by Homer C. House and Susan Emolyn Harmon; Second Edition; Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1950.

Question #2: Define proper noun; common noun. Name the properties of a noun.
A proper noun is the name of a specific person, place, or thing (such as "Tuesday").
A common noun refers to a person, place, or thing in a general sense (The "town" is not far away.)
The properties of a noun include...
1. Gender (masculine or feminine)
2. Number (singular, plural)
3. Person (first, second, or third)
4. Case (subject, object, or construct-possessive)

Question #3: What is a Personal Pronoun? Decline I.
A personal pronoun is a pronoun that refers to a particular person, group, or thing. The following chart is copied from Wikipedia. Note: horizontal scrolling will be necessary on smaller screens. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Personal pronouns in standard Modern English

Singular

Plural

Subject

Object

Possessive determiner

Possessive pronoun

Reflexive

Subject

Object

Possessive determiner

Possessive pronoun

Reflexive

First

I

me

my

mine

myself

we

us

our

ours

ourselves

Second

you

your

yours

yourself

you

your

yours

yourselves

Third

Masculine

he

him

his

himself

they

them

their

theirs

themselves

Feminine

she

her

hers

herself

Neuter

it

its

-

itself

"English personal pronouns have three inflections related to the purpose they serve in a sentence or phrase: nominative, accusative (objective), and possessive. For the first person singular, these are I, me, and mine, respectively." For more information on inflections, see this site.

Question #4: What properties have verbs? The properties of verbs are person, number, tense, voice, and mood.

Question #5: "William struck James." Change the Voice of the verb.
"William struck James." is in active voice. Passive voice would be "James was struck by William."

Question #6: Adjectives have how many Degrees of Comparison? Compare good; wise, beautiful. Adjectives have three degrees of comparison.

positive

comparative

superlative

good

better

best

wise

wiser

wisest

beautiful

more beautiful

most beautiful

Question #7: Diagram: The Lord loveth a cheerful giver.

Question #8: Parse all the words in the following sentences:

"John ran over the bridge."

John is a proper noun used as the subject of the sentence.Ran is an intransitive verb and forms the simple predicate of the sentence.Over the bridge is a prepositional phrase that modifies the verb and answers the question Where did John run?Over is the preposition; bridge is the object of the preposition, and the is an article adjective indicating which bridge.

"Helen's parents love her."

Parents is a common noun used as the subject of the sentence.Helen's is a possessive noun used to identify the parents.Love is a transitive verb and forms the simple predicate of the sentence.Her is an objective pronoun used as the direct object of the verb's action.

Geography

Question #1: Define longitude and latitude.
Longitude and latitude are the imaginary lines that divide the Earth into measurable horizontal and vertical lines. Latitude lines are measured from the equator to the poles. Longitude lines extend from the north to south poles and are measured east and west from the prime meridian to the International Date Line.

Question #2: Name and give the boundaries of the five zones.
1. North Frigid Zone, north of the Arctic Circle; 2: North Temperate Zone, between the Arctic Circle and the Tropic of Cancer; 3. Torrid Zone, between the Tropical Circles; 4. South Temperate Zone, between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle; 5. South Frigid Zone, south of the Antarctic Circle.

Question #3: Tell what you know of the Gulf Stream.
The Gulf Stream is a warm ocean current that flows from the Gulf of Mexico parallel with the US coast toward Newfoundland, Canada, and then continues across the Atlantic Ocean toward northwestern Europe as the North Atlantic Drift.

For Question #5Map courtesy of the University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.

Question #4: Locate Erie Canal; what waters does it connect, and why is it important?
The Erie Canal is a waterway in New York that runs about 363 miles from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. It was the first transportation system between the eastern seaboard (New York City) and the western interior (Great Lakes, Chicago) of the United States that did not require portage.

Question #5. Locate the following countries which border each other: Turkey [Ottoman Empire], Greece, Servia [Serbia today], Montenegro, Roumania [early spelling of Romania]. These are all in south-central Europe. See the map to the right.

Question #8: Name in order of their size three largest States in the United States.
Texas, California, Montana (at the time of the test; Alaska had not been made a state yet).

Question #9: Locate the following mountains: Blue Ridge, Himalaya, Andes, Alps, Wasatch.
Blue Ridge (eastern U.S. from Georgia to Pennsylvania), Himalaya (Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau), Andes (western South America extending from north to south through Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina), Alps (alpine countries in central Europe), Wasatch (Utah).

Question #10: Through what waters would a vessel pass in going from England through the Suez Canal to Manila?
A ship going from England to Manilla by way of the Suez Canal would pass through (perhaps) the English Channel, the North Atlantic Ocean, Bay of Biscay (possibly), Strait of Gibraltar, Mediterranean Sea, Suez Canal, Red Sea, Gulf of Aden/Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean, Gulf of Thailand (may have been called Gulf of Siam at that time), South China Sea.

Physiology

Question #1: How does the liver compare in size with other glands in the human body? Where is it located? What does it secrete?
The liver is the largest gland in the body. It lies below the diaphragm in the abdominal-pelvic region of the abdomen. It secretes bile.

Question #2: Name the organs of circulation. The likely intent of this questions was to determine the elements of the human cardiovascular system which include the heart, lungs, and blood vessels.

Question #3: Describe the heart. The heart is the vital organ of the body that pumps the blood. It is about the size of a fist. The four sections of the human heart are the left atrium, right atrium, left ventricle, and right ventricle.

Question #4: Compare arteries and veins as to function. Where is the blood carried to be purified?
Arteries distribute oxygenated blood throughout the body, while veins carry de-oxygenated blood to the heart. The liver and kidneys purify the blood. Note: H.L. King of Lexington KY points out that "arteries channel blood away from the heart, veins channel it toward the heart. The key is to note that the pulmonary artery channels oxygen-depleted blood from the right ventricle to the lungs. It then returns, oxygenated, to the left atrium via the pulmonary veins."

Question #5: Where is the chief nervous center of the body? The body's chief nervous center includes first the brain and then the spinal cord.

Question #6: Define Cerebrum; Cerebellum. The Cerebellum, located just above the brain stem, controls balance, equilibrium and fine movement coordination. The Cerebrum is located in the front portion of the forebrain, and determines intelligence, personality, interpretation of sensory impulses and motor function. It also helps with planning and organization as well as touch sensation.

Question #7: What are the functions (or uses) of the spinal column? The spinal column supports the body and provides protection for the spinal cord.

Question #8: Why should we study Physiology? We should study physiology so that we can better understand our body and how to better take care of it, as well as understand the functioning of other creatures. A good understanding of physiology (how the body works) is the basis of all medicine. Without knowing how the body works, how it is made up and how it can go wrong, we cannot even begin to design effective treatments and interventions, including surgery or new pharmaceutical drugs.

Civil Government

While a "pure" democracy includes all of its people making all of its decisions as a group, as a practical matter this will not work except in quite small groups. Most countries that claim to be democracies normally have a representative form of government, as does our own nation which is better defined as a republic. A modern definition of democracy, taken from the "Democracy Building" web site is a "form of government, where a constitution guarantees basic personal and political rights, fair and free elections, and independent courts of law." It is quite likely that the expected example in 1912 was the United States itself.

(We understand that some have objected to our selection of the United States as the likely answer to this question, and we accept that it may be better classified as a republic, a representative democracy, or something similar. However, since there did not exist a single nation in 1912 that could be considered a pure democracy, we can't think of a better answer. If you disagree, you are welcome to do so. Please keep in mind that we do not have the original answers, and this page represents our best effort to provide answers.)

Limited or constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the guidelines of a constitution. The likely answer in 1912 would have been Great Britain.

In an absolute monarchy, the monarch wields unrestricted political power over the sovereign state and its people. Until 1905 the Tsars of Russia governed as absolute monarchs. Another possible example might have been Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and Prussia.

A republic is a government where the head of state is not a monarch. Leadership positions are directly or indirectly elected or appointed rather than inherited. In 1912 an example might have been the Republic of France.

Question #2: To what four governments are students in school subjected?
As citizens of the United States, the Commonwealth of Kentucky, the county of Bullitt, and the local school system, these students would be subject to the jurisdiction of the local school board, and the county, state, and federal governments.

Question #3: Name five county officers, and the principal duties of each.
The students may have been required to identify the current officers by name, but we will assume they were to identify them by office.

The county judge in 1912 served both as an executive head of county government and as a judicial judge. He was also a member of the county fiscal court, the legislative body of the county.

Magistrates served as members of the fiscal court, and also had minor judicial duties.

The sheriff and his deputies were responsible for enforcing the law within the county.

The county court clerk had multiple duties including serving as the county court's clerk and clerk of the fiscal court. He was also responsible for maintaining county records including deeds, marriage records, and wills.

The county jailer was responsible for overseeing the incarceration of prisoners.

Question #4: Name and define the three branches of the government of the United States.
The federal government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, executive and judicial. The legislative branch includes the Congress (Senate and House of Representatives) which is responsible for the passage of all federal laws as outlined in the Constitution. The executive branch includes the president and vice president along with the various executive cabinets. The president is the head of state and commander in chief of the armed forces. He has the responsibility of negotiating treaties, and appointing cabinet members with the concurrence of the Senate. The judicial branch is responsible for interpretation of laws, and in determining the outcome of civil and criminal cases. It is headed by the Supreme Court.

Question # 5: Give three duties of the President. What is meant by the veto power?
The president is constitutionally obligated to "take care that the laws be faithfully executed." He appoints ambassadors, member of his Cabinet, and federal judges with the advice and consent of the Senate. He directs foreign policy and is commander in chief of the armed forces. He has the power of the veto whereby all bills passed by Congress must be presented to him. He may sign the bill, allowing it to become law; he may veto it and return it to Congress with his objections; or he may take no action. If he vetoes the bill, Congress may override his veto by voting two-thirds majority approval. If he takes no action for ten working days, and Congress is still in session, then the bill becomes law without his signature. However if Congress has adjourned, the bill does not become law. This is commonly known as a pocket veto.

Question #6: Name three rights given Congress by the Constitution and two rights denied Congress.
Only Congress can declare war. Only Congress can impeach (House), try (Senate), and remove office holders, including the President and Supreme Court Justices from office. Only Congress can raise and lower taxes.

Congress can not pass a law that turns an act into a crime after the act was committed; accept a title of nobility; suspend writ of habeas corpus (except under special circumstances); pass a Bill of Attainder (which means they can't punish anyone or group without a trial); tax any goods exported from any state; and Congress cannot vote themselves a pay raise during their current term in office.

(Note that this answer is not exactly correct for 1912. Constitutional amendments changed the Congressional powers over the years.)

Question #7: In the election of a president and vice-president, how many electoral votes is each State allowed?
Each state receives a number of presidential electors in the electoral college equal to the number of congressional districts in that state (which varies by state population, but is never less than one) plus the number of senators (always two). At the time of this test, Kentucky had 13 electoral votes out of 531 electoral votes nationwide. Today Kentucky has 8 electoral votes out of 538 nationwide.

Question #8: Give the eligibility of president, vice-president and Governor of Kentucky.
The president and vice-president of the United States must be a natural born citizen of the United States, be at least thirty-five years old, and have been a permanent resident in the United States for at least fourteen years. The governor of Kentucky must be at least thirty years of age and have resided in the state for at least six years preceding the general election; and never fought a duel.

Question #9. What is a copyright? Patent right? Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time. A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time, in exchange for the public disclosure of the invention.

Question #10: Describe the manner in which the president and vice-president of the United States are elected.
The president and vice-president are selected by a group of electors known as the electoral college. Each state is granted a number of electors equal to the number of its members of the United States Congress (Senate and House of Representatives). To be elected, the president and vice-president, running as a team, must receive a majority of the electoral votes. If no one receives a majority, then the members of the House of Representatives select the president. Each state receives one vote, with its representatives voting as a bloc.

Although there is no legal requirement to do so, a state's electors almost always cast their ballots according to how the state's citizens voted in the general election.

History

Question #1. Who first discovered the following places: Florida, Pacific Ocean, Mississippi River, St. Lawrence River?
Juan Ponce de León made the first European expedition to Florida, which he named. Vasco Núñez de Balboa is best known for having crossed the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean. Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto became the first recorded European to reach the Mississippi River. Jacques Cartier was the first European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence River.

These are likely the expected answers on the 1912 test. Although Native Americans were present in these places before the arrival of the Europeans, the names of their people who first visited these sites are lost in the mists of time.

Question #2: Sketch briefly Sir Walter Raleigh, Peter Stuyvesant. Sir Walter Raleigh was an English aristocrat, writer, poet, soldier, courtier, spy, and explorer. He is also well known for popularizing tobacco in England. In 1594, Raleigh heard of a "City of Gold" in South America and sailed to find it without success. For various reasons, he was executed in 1618.

Peter Stuyvesant served as the last Dutch Director-General of the colony of New Netherland from 1647 until it was ceded to the English in 1664, after which it was renamed New York. He was a major figure in the early history of New York City.

In November 1732 the ship Anne sailed from Britain carrying 114 colonists, including General James Oglethorpe, who settled at what became Savannah, Georgia.

Maryland was first settled by mainly Roman Catholic families led by the Calvert family as a place where they could freely practice their faith.

The first English settlers in Massachusetts, the Pilgrims, established their settlement at Plymouth in 1620.

In 1636, Roger Williams, after being banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for his religious views, settled at the tip of Narragansett Bay, on land that would become Rhode Island. A number of non-Puritan colonists as well as those that believed in religious freedom joined him.

Florida has had a long history of immigration, including French and Spanish settlement during the 16th century, as well as entry of new Native American groups migrating from elsewhere in the South. Florida was under colonial rule by Spain and Great Britain during the 18th and 19th centuries before becoming a territory in 1822 of the United States.

Question #4: During what wars were the following battles fought: Brandywine, Great Meadows, Lundy's Lane, Antietam, Buena Vista?

The Battle of Brandywine was fought between the American army of Major General George Washington and the British army of General Sir William Howe on September 11, 1777 during the Revolutionary War.

The Battle of Fort Necessity, or the Battle of the Great Meadows took place on July 3, 1754 in Pennsylvania. The engagement was one of the first battles of the French and Indian War and George Washington's only military surrender.

The Battle of Lundy's Lane (also known as the Battle of Niagara Falls) was a battle of the War of 1812, which took place on 25 July 1814, in present-day Niagara Falls, Ontario.

The Battle of Antietam, also known as the Battle of Sharpsburg, was fought on Wednesday, September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek, and was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Union soil.

The Battle of Buena Vista, on February 23, 1847, saw the United States Army use artillery to repulse the much larger Mexican army in the Mexican-American War.

Question #5: Describe the battle of Quebec. The Battle of Quebec was fought on December 31, 1775 between American Continental Army forces and the British defenders of the city of Quebec, early in the American Revolutionary War. The battle was the first major defeat of the war for the Americans, and it came at a high price. General Richard Montgomery was killed, Benedict Arnold was wounded, and Daniel Morgan and more than 400 men were taken prisoner.

Question #6: Give the cause of the War of 1812, and name an important battle fought during that war.
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions due to Britain's ongoing war with France, and the impressment of American merchant sailors into the Royal Navy. One major battle was the Battle of Baltimore, during which the words to the National Anthem were penned.

Question #7: Name 2 presidents who have died in office; three who were assassinated.
Three Presidents who were assassinated (by the time of this 1912 test) were Lincoln, McKinley, & Garfield. Presidents who died in office (but not assassinated) were William Henry Harrison, and Zachary Taylor.

Question #8: Name the last battle of the Civil War; War of 1812; French and Indian War, and the commanders in each battle.

Civil War: Battle of Columbus, Georgia on 16 Apr 1865; commanders were Union General James H. Wilson and Confederate Major General Howell Cobb. [See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Columbus_(1865)] We are aware that a battle took place in Texas (Battle of Palmito Ranch) on May 12–13, 1865, shortly after the end of the American Civil War; but it occurred after Johnston's surrender to Sherman (April 26, 1865) and after the Confederacy dissolved on May 5.

War of 1812: By date, the last battle was in February 1815 at Fort Bowyer, Alabama in which a British force of at least 3000 attacked a smaller American force of fewer than 400 led by fort commander William Lawrence who surrendered on 11 Feb 1815. However the generally recognized last battle of the war was the Battle of New Orleans with Andrew Jackson leading the Americans and Edward Pakenham among the British.

Question #9: What president was impeached, and on what charge? Andrew Johnson (who succeeded Lincoln) for violating the "Tenure of Office Act", when he sought to remove his Secretary of War without Senate approval. Republicans were mad at him for being lenient to the South.

We have received a number of requests for hard copies of the test and our answers. If you prefer to obtain them this way, you may purchase them from the museum by printing the form located at this link, and mailing the form and a check for $10.00 made out to the Bullitt County History Museum to the following address:

If you, the reader, have an interest in any particular part of our county history, and wish to contribute to this effort, use the form on our Contact Us page to send us your comments about this, or any Bullitt County History page. We welcome your comments and suggestions. If you feel that we have misspoken at any point, please feel free to point this out to us.

The Bullitt County History Museum, a service of the Bullitt County Genealogical Society, is located in the county courthouse at 300 South Buckman Street (Highway 61) in Shepherdsville, Kentucky. The museum, along with its research room, is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday; and from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday. Admission is free. The museum, as part of the Bullitt County Genealogical Society, is a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization and is classified as a 509(a)2 public charity. Contributions and bequests are deductible under section 2055, 2106, or 2522 of the Internal Revenue Code.
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